


Next To Me

by twelvemorestopsandhome



Category: The White Queen - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-23
Updated: 2014-02-06
Packaged: 2017-12-24 09:43:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 3,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/938475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twelvemorestopsandhome/pseuds/twelvemorestopsandhome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of Anne x Richard ficlets</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Next To Me

**Author's Note:**

> If Richard had caught her on the throne instead of Margaret.

She doesn’t move when she hears him enter. She doesn’t have to hide or pretend. Not with him.

“It suits you.” he says softly, in a voice she hasn’t heard since they came to say goodbye to his brother.

She gives a self-deprecating laugh but preens under his attention and makes no move to rise.

He’s moving around the room then, leisurely at first, simply strolling to the far side of the hall before turning quickly on his heels and striding towards his wife.

For a moment, Anne thinks he won’t stop at all, that they will collide, sending them both and the throne to the floor but he stops just in front of her. And bows. And then he kneels.

“Richard.” Anne breathes and rises without hesitation only to kneel in front of her husband, joining him on the floor

“I don’t know what’s going to happen, Anne.” he admits,grasping her hands in his.  _“and that scares me”_ goes unsaid.

She runs her thumb over his knuckles lovingly. “Why don’t you sit for a while, my love?” and gestures gracefully to the conveniently placed matching chairs behind them.


	2. Whatever Else Happened

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes places early into their reign.

"Do you ever think about what our lives would be like if things were different?" Anne breaks the silence softly, he eyes drifting to her husband, her king, who is sitting at the table across from her.

"What do you mean?" Richard prompts, returning her gaze.

"Well if your brother had never married the queen-"

Richard raises an eyebrow in lieu of pointing out that she, Anne, is in fact the queen.

"-or if my father had not been so…misguided or if George had succeeded. Or if I had never married my first husband (they never speak his name) or heaven forbid he had survived, or your brother-"

He suddenly knows where she is leading and shakes his head.

"I don’t know what our lives would be like had the events that brought us to this place not happened but I do know that there is no conceivable world where we are not together."

She bows her head at this and they both marvel at how he still makes her blush after so many years of marriage.

She doesn’t trust her voice so instead she presses a kiss to his temple in response as she passes his chair.

"And Anne?" he calls as she reaches the door.

"Yes, love?"

'Your first husband. Had he survived Tewkesbury,” he says lowly “I would have seen to it that he did not live long after.”


	3. Come and Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set short after Anne's burial.

“Your grace.”

He turns to see Lord Brackenbury standing at the door which he has partially closed behind him. Richard can hear others just outside. He doesn’t know how long he’s been in here, in the queen’s room. Can only guess how many days have passed since they buried her in the Abbey by the food that has been brought to him.

He watches his friend and loyal servant, knows that custom dictates that he, Richard, must speak now before Brackenbury does again.

A thousand possibilities run through his head.

“I wouldn’t  _be_  king without her and now I don’t know  _how_  to be king without her.”

“I would give all of England to hear her voice. Even if the words she spoke were in hate.”

“She thought I killed our nephews and I cannot bare it.”

**“** I loved her.” he settles for. He needs to say it aloud. Because it’s true and even she if she didn’t believe it, others need others to know.

“I know you did, your grace.” Brackenbury says stiffly, uncomfortable with his kings words.

**“** But she died believing I loved another.” Richard’s voice rises in anger. “It was always her. Ever since we were children, she was the only one and when it mattered most, right at the end, she didn’t believe that I loved her.”

There’s a silence then as the king moves around the room as if searching for something that is no longer there.

Brackenbury thinks for a moment that the king has forgotten he is there until-

**“** Do you believe in heaven Brackenbury?”

“I do, your grace.” he nods once, confidently.

**“** And do you believe, in heaven, that we are reunited with our loved ones?”

**“** I truly hope so”

“And do you think St. Peter will grant me entrance?”

No answer comes.

“She won’t want to see me.”

“Your grace, the queen is waiting for you and you will be together again in Paradise.” Brackenbury stumbles over the delicate words. They are not intended to be soothing, merely an attempt to appease the king for there is a war to be won.

Seeing that the king has made no move to leave the room, he bows and backs towards the door. He’ll try again tomorrow.

The door is all but closed when he hears the king’s voice again.

“Perhaps she won’t have to wait too long.”


	4. Prompt Fill 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Fill 1- "Richard knows/finds out that Brackenbury is in love with Anne."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by lehayed on tumblr! You can find me at twelvemorestopsandhome where I'm still taking prompts. :)

Richard knows the look of lust. He had seen it many times in both his brothers’ eyes as young men. Sees it in court every day. When men and women and constantly in each other’s company certain feelings and urges are bound to come to the surface. So, when he recognises that look in Brackenbury’s eyes one evening, he is amused to to know that even the great and learned Robert Brackenbury isn’t immune to the appeal of a beautiful woman. His lord Brackenbury’s gaze is moving now and the king follows it to the moving figure in the center of the room.

_Ah._

The king cannot deny that she is indeed the most beautiful woman in the room, if not all of England. At least, he’s always thought so. She is even more lovely now dressed in her finery with the crown upon her head (although Richard routinely tells her she is the  _most_  beautiful when naked in their bed.)

He feels no jealousy, understands completely the attention Brackenbury is giving to the queen, knows that Brackenbury would never act on these feelings (do to so would be treason) and when Anne turns to him, smiles coyly and tilts her head ever so slightly, he  _knows_  that all her looks are saved for him, just as his are for her.

*

It is weeks later when he catches Brackenbury staring at his wife again. It is softer this time, tender and just a little  _too_  familiar and an anger rises up in Richard’s stomach. Brackenbury appreciating his wife’s beauty is one thing, him looking at her like  _that_ is quite another.

“We shall find you a wife, Sir Robert.” he says suddenly, and just a little too loudly considering the relative quiet of the hall.

“You honour me your grace, but I fear I may be beyond that.” Brackenbury replies with a dry chuckle.

“Nonsense” Richard dismisses, rocking back onto his heel. “Name a lady and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Your gra-”

“Choose. a. wife.” Richard insists pressing his lips into a thin line.

"Because you cannot have mine."


	5. Prompt Fill 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon prompted: 'Anne’s pregnancy! LIke you were talking about this morning pLEASE' on tumblr :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part one of the fill to this prompt! This will be a mini series of ficlets telling Anne’s pregnancy non-chronologically.

“You look beautiful.” Richard says honestly as she enters the room raising her hands in a unspoken question.

“I look like a barrel.” Anne sighs, running his hand down her ever-expanding stomach.

“A very beautiful barrel.” he amends teasingly, taking her hand in his.

She laughs then and it fills the entire space between them, drawing him even further in. It reminds him of being children here in this castle, and he still cannot comprehend that they will soon have a child of their own.

“Come sit.” he tugs gently on her hand, attempting to lead her to the fireside.

“No, no I am rested enough” he shakes her head “the midwife said it would be good to walk around for a time. A walk in the gardens, perhaps?”

“Anything you wish.”

It takes considerably longer than it should to make it to the garden, let alone walk through it.

“I cannot imagine how the queen has bared being with child so many times.” Anne huffs when they finally enter under the arch to the rose garden.

“I could carry you, my love.” Richard offers gallantly,

He does not wait for her answer before placing both arms around her body and pretends to dramatically heave her upward.

“Ooof, Anne Neville, what have you been eating?” he teases, failing to lift her from the ground.

She swats him away playfully. “You are a cruel man, Richard Plantagenet. I’m carrying your child, one would imagine the duke would be more gracious.” Two can play at this game.

He knows she is teasing him but he cannot help but break his facade and pull her close, cupping her face and and running his thumb gently across her jaw. “Thank you” he whispers.

She laughs again and this time it fills the garden and his heart. “It is my pleasure.”


	6. Prompt Fill 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lehayed (thecivilunrest) prompted: Okay now I want to request jealous!Richard thinking Anne is in love with someone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the love for the other chapters! I'm still taking prompts on tumblr so if there's anything you'd like to see...please pop by! There's been a lot of fluff so far because when I bring the angst it's usually to the extreme so...if you'd like more of that please let me know!

Returning to Middleham always feels like coming home no matter how long or short the absence. This time they had only been away from three nights on a hunting trip but Richard can remember well returning here years ago after his months on the continent and wishing that he could spend his life here.

The Countess is waiting for them just inside the main entrance and bows lowly as her husband enters with his boys trailing behind him. There are two notable absences from the the countess’ company and Richard looks around with a confused expression on his face. Apparently Warwick had also noticed as Richard refocuses to hear the Countess answer an unheard question.

“They are out at the training field. We received a visitor while you were away.”

The visitor is a young northern knight who had been passing on his way to London, hoping to speak with the Earl. Instead he found a household full of women and made himself very much at home.

They find Isabel and Anne lounging on the grass beside the training arena as this Sir Eoghan goes through his paces in a rather over-dramatic manner (at least in Richard’s opinion.)

“Father!” Isabel jumps to her feet as they come closer, followed closely by Anne and Warwick embraces them both. The girl’s eyes immediately  turn back to Sir Eoghan causing Richard to raise both eyebrows in confusion and annoyance. He had become used to (and looked forward to) warmer welcomes.

“Lady Anne” he prompts, the words slipping from his mouth before he had time to full register them.

Anne instantly looks over her shoulder. “Oh, hello Richard” she nods and turns back around once again. She always calls him by his given name, finds it funny to call him by his royal title.

“Hmmmf’ Richard huffs, annoyance overtaking any confusion now.

Usually, Anne would come to him first, ask about the catch from the hunt or tell him what he missed while he was away and now… now this  _nobody_  is taking up all her time and attention and why should it even matter, she’s just a silly little girl and he’s the king’s brother but he knows there is talk of a betrothal but she’s not going to want to marry him  _now_ , she’ll want to marry this  _Eoghan_  and watch him train all day and even if they see each other she’ll never want to talk to him or -

Everyone is walking back toward the house now, Warwick and Sir Eoghan deep in conversation as the others follow them.

Anne appears at Richard’s side all of a sudden. “I’m glad you’re home.” she smiles and hurries to join her mother and sister, leaving Richard alone in the clearing.

_Oh_

Maybe he was still in with a chance.


	7. Prompt Fill 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set during the coronation feast in episode 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a jealous!Richard prompt fill and while they are elements of that…it kind of ran away from me a bit so I decided to post it anyway but I will write something that is all our jealous!Richard in the next few days! Promise!

Anne speaking of her father’s importance reminds him of her outspokenness and pride as a child. It had been two years since they had all seen each other last and she is a proper young lady now, observing royal rules and customs befitting of her status and upbringing. But he sees a mischievous glint in her eye when she sits down across the table from him that tells him that she hasn’t forgotten their time in Middleham either.

They catch up over the feast, although the majority of the conversation is dominated by Anne admiring the newly crowned queen. While there has never been anything on paper, there was always a presumption, by both families, that when the time came, they’d be married. He’d never considered it in a practical sense before but now… They’ve both  _grown_  and when Anne looks up at him through her lashes and smiles, he suddenly can’t wait for this vague idea he always had to become a reality.

*

Richard knows more marriages are based on political alignments than love or any sort of affection but all he has is look to his brother and his new wife to see that it is not always the case. Perhaps him and Anne could have both?

Now he’s getting ahead of himself and he knows it. He shakes his head and scolds himself for thinking such silly thoughts. He doesn’t even know Anne’s thoughts on all this. He’d never thought to ask her before and she had never brought it up.

He sees her with her sister and mother huddled across the way from him. Anne is blushing and Isabel looking smug as their mother’s eyes roam around the room possessively, assumingly.

He isn’t the only one who has noticed how the Neville girls have grown. Coming from one of the most powerful houses in the kingdom means they have always garnered a certain level of attention but their recent maturity into marrying age means those who would have once glanced their way now eye them hungrily, appreciating their beauty and no doubt imaging the Neville fortune that lies behind them.

No-one approaches the Neville women, they are far too important for the majority of men at court to simply walk up to but Richard cannot imagine that Anne cannot feel dozens of sets of eyes boring into her. She turns her head in his direction and is swiftly reminded that he is just like the others, a pair of eyes leering across the room . Except, he’s not like them at all. He is Richard Plantagenet , son of the great Richard of York, brother to the king, and if he has to fight others off he is more than prepared to do so.

He just hopes Anne will be filling to fight alongside him.


	8. Prompt Fill 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked you:  
> i’ve got a prompt, richard see’s anne when he dies as a sort of ghost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is quite angsty as the prompt would suggest. 
> 
> Thank you for the prompt anon, this was strangely enjoyable to write.

They had buried her in the Abbey only hours before the first time he sees her.

“Don’t you think it’s time you rose, dear?” she asks teasingly, walking to her dresser and gathers belongings in her arms. She looks younger and healthier than she did at the end and Richard is too paralysed with fright to even close his eyes in an attempt to shake this vision.

“Are you unwell?” she inquires, her voice full of concern when he doesn’t reply.

He hasn’t slept for days but perhaps he is sleeping now. Yes, that must be it. He is simply dreaming of her.

She stops suddenly and let’s her hands fall to her side in defeat “I have forgotten what I was…”

“Anne” he whispers hoarsely, not sure what else he can say.

“Who is the bell ringing for?” she asks confused, turning to him with sudden anguish on her face.

The bells have been ringing for three days and Richard knows for certain he is awake.

She turns fully to him and she already knows the answer.

“You” he whispers too quietly for any living creature to hear. But she does.

“Oh yes” she nods, mouth in a tight smile. “I remember now.”

And she’s gone.

*

She appears by his side one afternoon as he is walking through the halls of the castle a few days later.

“What will you do about Tudor?” her voice is low but strong and his heart gives a jolt.

He glances at her from the corner of his eye. Her cheeks are rosy and she is light on her feet but her crown sits heavily upon her head.

“Why are you ignoring me?”she asks and Richard can’t help remember a stubborn eight year old girl he once knew many many years before. He sees her hand curve his arm but he cannot feel it.

He won’t indulge these visions, fantasies, she is a figment of his imagination. He has seen men sink into madness and won’t let the same happen him.

He lengthens his steps hoping to outrun his own mind.

“Do not dismiss me again,” her voice is shrill, not quite a scream but it stops Richard in his tracks and he sees her eyes flash pure black as he finally turns to her.

“I never dismissed you.” he shakes his head, his eyes now brimming with unshed tears of grief and frustration.

*

“It’s been a very long time since I’ve been a battlefield” she muses appearing out of the entrance of the tent behind him.

It is barely dawn and Richard could not sleep any longer, has taken instead to sitting unkingly outside the royal tent like a common guard. The future of England will be decided today. He looks up at her, happy that she is here, wherever he as manifested her from.

“My saviour” she smiles lovingly before dropping to the ground to sit beside him.

“You were doing a fine job rescuing yourself.” he assures her.

He can hear her breathe, can see it in the cold morning air, can see her chest rise and fall, he reaches out then and takes her hand in his. He can feel her warmth and her steady pulse underneath his thumb. Her eyes are closed and is at an ease he’d not seen in so long.

“Where are my men?” he asks, suddenly aware of the deafening silence around them.

“Many are still here.” she answers, squeezing his hand in comfort.

“I can feel you” he says simply and there is question hidden in it.

“You can.” she agrees, her expression open and encouraging.

And he realises, he remembers.

The battle has already been.

No bells are ringing.


	9. Prompt Fill 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon prompted: Sir Richard Brackenbury becomes a witness to a private moment between Richard and Anne.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another prompt fill, sorry for the delay! As always you can find me over at twelvemorestopsandhome on tumblr.
> 
> Thank you all so much for the kudos and comments so far! :D

Whisperings aren’t unusual in the castle. Most dealings are conducted in hushed tones. The art is deciphering whether overheard whispers are loyal or treasonous.

 

True privacy doesn’t exist here, the lines between the public and private are blurred and anything overheard, even in assumed safety, is fair game.

 

As Constable of the Tower and a highly regarded member of the court, Sir Robert Brackenbury has engaged in and overheard his fair share of ‘secret conversations’. Most are harmless idle gossip. If ever a conversation starts to drift in a direction Brackenbury deems unfit he doesn’t hesitate in making his presence known to stomp out any such talk.

 

And then, of course, there are the sort of encounters that by their very nature, _should_ be truly private. A blind eye is turned to such activities (while noting who exactly is involved, allegiances are sealed in very different ways after all.) Having men and women in close proximity stirs certain urges and lust is acted upon in the most imaginative parts of the castle. He does not hold any voyeuristic perversions so happening upon such occurrences does not _excite_ or phase him in the least. It takes a lot to shock Sir Robert Brackenbury.

 

Happening upon a loving, tender moment is rare.

 

The love of the previous king and queen was public, something that they played up, used to their advantage but although that passion may have been genuine, he also knows the queen was not the only one to share the king’s bed.

 

The current king and queen have a quiet love in comparison, their union has proven successful and to the best of Brackenbury’s extensive knowledge on all court matters, there has never been a third party. He was often granted glimpses of their marriage when he was the treasurer of their household when they were Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. There was, and still is, an ease and trust between them that he knows does not exist in all marriages. Now they act in a manner befitting their station, wishing to keep some things sacred.

 

The court does not need to know the inner working of the king and queen’s marriage, however entitled they may feel to it.

Which is why, when he sees two figures upon the lawn, hands clasped, one morning just after dawn, he bows although they cannot see him and slips away to allow them these moments before they are for public display once more.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tiniest of fills for a prompt in which Anne gives birth to stillborn son.
> 
> Very angst as you can imagine and to be honest this was all I could manage because of the topic

“Are you in pain?” he asks before realising the insensitivity of the question.

“The midwife gave me a draught” Anne replies, her voice broken and tiny in their vast chamber.

“ _I’m sorry”_ They both think at different times.

She shifts in the bed and grimaces at the pain shooting out her back. Richard rushes forward to her side and with a whispered  _“allow me”_  rearranges her pillows, placing a gentle touch to her shoulder.

“Thank you” Anne nods as she settles back “you’ve been very kind.”

“Anne” Richard breathes, reaching for her hand.

“Bring me Ned, would you? I wish to see him” She brings her hand to her rest over her still prominent stomach.

“I don’t think-”

“Bring me our son” She says steadily. “Please”

He nods his consent and walks towards the door when Anne’s voice travels through the room, stronger now.

“They wouldn’t allow me to hold him”

“I saw him when they brought him out” Richard tells her with a sad smile “He was so small.”

“I won’t bare anymore children, Richard” she tells him.

_“We must keep Ned safe”_  They both think at the same time.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little conversation between Anne and her niece, Margaret

Anne wishes the children goodnight most nights.

 _'Her Edwards'_  first, as she calls them, double checking they haven’t snuck a frog or heavens knows what else into their room.

And then Margaret.

Margaret who has come to be Anne’s shadow, a loyal and constant companion in a court that changes daily. A Neville by her side.

She's wrapped up in blankets and furs when Anne crosses the room and sits on the edge of the bed.

“Thank you for your help today, Margaret” she says softly and her niece beams with pride.

“You are very welcome, my lady”

“Lady Anne?” Margaret says quietly. “What was my mother like?”

This is a question is asked often but Anne would never deny her.

Anne’s initial reply is always the same “Your mother was my dearest friend, she was clever and beautiful and I miss her every day”

Margaret smiles and nods like that is the correct answer.

What Anne follows up with is always different but always true.

“Once, we we were very young I ran off into the fields around Warwick Castle because I was upset. I can’t fully remember why but there was a great many little boys in the house including your uncle, the king, although he wasn’t the king then of course” She winks and Margaret giggles “So I ran off because no-one was listening to me but your mother found me and produced two slices of pear tart she had taken from the kitchen and we spent the afternoon out in the field just the two of us. No silly boys.”

“I like pear tart.”

“Oh, I know you do”

“I wish she were here.” Margaret bows her head, running her fingers over the softness of her furs.

“As do I Margaret” Anne takes her nieces hand in hers. “But you know the king and I are so glad you and Teddy are here with us, don’t you?”

Margaret blushes and nods, wrapping her arms around her aunt.

“You are our princess” Anne continues “And what would England be without a princess?

“Was my mother a princess too?” Margaret pulls back slightly and looks up a Anne, eyes wide and glassy.

“Oh love, your mother was a queen.”


End file.
